Keywords:

cadmium;

genetic engineering;

nanocrystals;

phytochelatins;

semiconductors

A bacterial biofactory: Escherichia coli strains were genetically engineered to produce phytochelatins (PCs) as capping agents and used for the intracellular synthesis of fluorescent and water-soluble PC-coated CdS nanoparticles (see figure). The size of the semiconductor nanocrystals could be tuned by controlling the population of the capping PCs. SpPCS is the PC synthase from Schizosaccharomyces pombe; GSHI*=γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase.